The book was given as a gift.
I was about to go to Malaysia for a visit.
I was a freshly minted graduate doctor in the halls of a hospital in Melbourne.
I was at a bookstore in Carlton, said Dr J, here is a gift for you .
It was a book of poems by Pablo Neruda
El versos del capitan, a bilingual edition which now has travelled many times around the world and I annotated and wrote in it. I remember reading it as I sat alone at a beach in Maldives..Thursday Island..Miami
Under a street light in Gordon Town in Jamaica. There are many poems in that book that I love and each poem brings me back to some fragrance
One such poem is If You forget me
If you forget me, please do not look for me
For I would have already forgotten you.
The fragrances of emotions, not the bitterness that may have exist among people, stays in your heart, even after many years.
La petite poete de Cote Sauvage one said to me
I will not miss you when you leave
How can I miss you when you are in my heart all the time ..
Today I tracked down the little poet with whom I have not spoken in a while, she is travelling around with her family in some distant part of France.
In Baracoa, my closest friend, who calls me Director because of our magical creation : International School of Kisses, says
You are not leaving us, I am taking you with me in my heart.
The days are not the same
the rain is falling to clean the earth
as Indians say, the earth needs the cleaning of the pollution human beings have put there
My heart is not polluted but this rain cleans the heart
as my brother is cleaning the house while I sit here and write this
the spirits are everywhere
they do not leave you because they do not belong to you
they come rushing to you when you need them
and then fly away
a heart which is sensitized to a series of soft emotions
would remain open
another breeze from the park
might bring another feelings disguised as something or another
this weekend has been such a wonderful weekend
feelings thoughts and emotions
cuba brasil indians france asia israel all dancing in my heart
someone is knocking at the door and I must let them in
I do not know what message they are carrying
yes and the messenger led me to
things happen without a notice
it was waiting for an anniversary that did it
As always celebrate nothing, it will end up with no meaning
Leave the cakes to the children
I will now light two candles and an incense ..
and be grateful for this fantastic weekend of emotions that brought the fragrance of forests and ginger....
